16 \ears of service to numismatics
Volume 14 Number 7 Price • • • • One Dollar
ISSN: 0197-3088
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURES
Early Writers on Coins of Asia - II, Robert Knox, captive in
Ceylon, by David G. Briggs 199
DEPARTMENTS
Book Reviews 217
Contents of the NI Reference Collection 216
From the Mailbox 197
IDENTIFICATION, Please? 213
Member Notice Page 224
New Issues 214
INSIDE N.I.
Donations Report 195
Librarian's Report 195
Membership Chairman's Report 195
NI Member Honored by the Polish Government in Exile 196
Randolph Zander Awarded NI's Highest Recognition 196
OTHER ITEMS
A Further Note on Tamerlane and Babur, by Stephen Album 210
A Santo Domingo /Maracaibo Overstrike, by K. W. Wiggins 208
More Library Space is Needed Urgently,
by Granvyl G. Hulse, Jr. 209
Salutations Coin, by I. C. G. Campbell 215
The Dollar Sign 207
The Exchequer 223
The Polish "Kwartnik" Coin, by Arthur J. Majewski 209
1979-1980 FAO Pages 4-6 Announced 212
Copyrighted by Numismatics I n t er nat ional.PO.Box 30013 . Da 1 1 a s .Tex us , USA
JULY 1980
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At-Large Director
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194
INSIDE N.l.
MEM B ERSHIP CK AIRMAN ' S RE PORT
July 1980 Applications for Membership: The following persons have ap-
plied for membership. If no written objections are received by Sep-
tember 1, 1980, their membership will become effective on that date.
(MT = Mail Trader)
1605
Fred L. Colombo, P. 0. Box 416, Fraser, Mich. 48026
1606- MT Dennis Amstutz, 575 S. Main St., Bluff ton, Ohio 45817
(Br. Commonwealth, Russian Empire, Europe)
1607- MT William M. Majors III, P. 0. Drawer 6239, Tahoe City, Cal. 95730
(World Types, Siamese Gambling Tokens, Odd & Curious)
1608- MT Larry J. Meuhl, 4607 Ridgewood, Rapid City, S. D. 57701
(Ancient , European)
1609- MT Jean Claude Jetzer, Henri Dunantplein 17, Horst, IB, 5961 HK,
The Netherlands - (France, French Indo China, Netherlands,
Fr. India, Parthia , Sasannian , Indian States)
*****
DONATIONS REPORT: We Wish to acknowledge the following donation receiv-
ed since the last report:
Name
Donation and
Stated Value
Preference of Use
The Coin Place
(Howard L. Norton)
Coins ($5,620.50) NI Reference Collection
*****
LIBRARIAN'S REPORT
I. Acknowledgement is made below to those who have donated material
to the NI Library. With the exception of titles preceded by the
letters "ne" (representing different editions of books already on
the shelves) , all other entries shown are new to our collection.
I. C. G. Campbell
ne SEABY, PETER & PURVEY, FRANK. Standard Catalog of British Coins ,
Vol. 1. Coins of England and The United Kingdom. 17th Ed.
Pub. 1980, 320pp, illus.
SEAR, DAVID R. Greek Coins and Their Values , Vol. II, Asia and
North Africa. Pub. 1979, 762pp, illus.
PLANT, RICHARD. Greek Coin Types and Their Identification.
Pub. 1979, 343pp , illus.
195
Serge Kuard
SARPKAYA, S. Counting Canada's Banks /Nomenclature des Banques
au Canada. Pub. 1978, 23pp, illus. Two pamphlets, one in
English and the other in French by the Canadian Bankers Assn.
II. In addition to the above we would also like to thank W. A.
Haskell for the addition of a number of catalogs, price lists, and
magazines to our shelves.
III. Please refer to a separate article in this BULLETIN by your
librarian. We are in need of more space and maybe you can help.
(See page 209).
Granvyl G. Hulse, Jr.
NI Librarian
•k’k’k’k’k
RANDOLPH ZANDER AWARDED NT’S HIGHEST RECOGNITION
The NI Board of Governors, in recognition of Randolph Zander's out-
standing support of the NI Library , has awarded him an Honorary Life
Membership. This follows his 1978 award as NI's first Patron of the
Library and was the result of a recent recommendation for a second
Patron on the Library for 1980. Ran's donations over the past four
years have amounted to over a thousand numismatic items of which over
two hundred and fifty were books. Ran has contributed significantly
to the growth of the Library which as of December 1980 contained in
excess of 1500 volumes and with its collection of magazines and cata-
logs takes up about 250 feet of bookshelf space with a total value
of approximately $10,000.00 In the recommendation for the second
Patron award the citation read in part: "Outstanding in his gifts of
books were ten bound volumes of the early issues of the British Numis-
matic Journal; the P. P. Santamain Italian series; Philip Grierson's
Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles', two of Lopez-Chaves and Yriartes
works on Spain; two early 1800 volumes of Akermans Numismatic Chronicles
and numerous volumes on Russian numismatics.
In NI's 16 year history, this is only the fourth person to receive an
Honorary Life Membership which is the highest recognition a member can
receive from the organization. Others who have been recognized by
this award are Marvin L. Fraley, Jack E. Lewis and John E. Vandigriff.
'k’k'k'k'k
NI MEMBER HONORED BY THE POLISH GOVERNMENT IN EXILE
Arthur J. Majewski (NI #1166) , recipient of the Numismatic Achievement
Award of Numismatics International for 1975 and 1978, has been honored
by the Polish Government in Exile located in London, England. At a
banquet held in Hamtramck, Michigan on May 18, 1980, said Government
granted Arthur J. Majewski the Order of Polonia Restituta.
Also honored were District Court Judge Don Binkowski , who was granted
the Gold Cross of Merit , and Aleksandra Miziolek, who was given the
Silver Cross of Merit. The awards were bestowed for civic contributions.
196
FROM THE MAILBOX
Plaudits for the 10 year index
I have just received the new 1970-79 index and it is certainly welcome.
It would be helpful if for the issues of 1973 to date, a listing of
which pages were in each month's issues was included. All the people
who worked on the index are due a large 'thank you" from all the members.
Robert Stocking
Mound City, Kansas
Those involved with the 10 year index are to be congratulated on a super
human task.
I. C. G. Campbell
Weeping Water, Nebraska
Additional comments on Sudanese coins and Hitler tokens in February issue
In Vol. 14, No. 2 of the NI BULLETIN (February, 1980) I found an inter-
esting article with the title "New Variety of Sudanese Minor Coins" (p57).
I would like to add some comments. In my collection are a lot of
Sudanese coins which I collected during a short visit to Khartum in
the summer of 1977. I found YC43, YD43, YE43 and YG43 in circulation!
As my stay was rather short (3 days) I do not know if YA43 and YB43
as well as YF43 are circulating, but I think they are, as the result
of the rest of this issue in circulation. The brackets in Yeoman, which
indicate "non-circulating coins", should be abolished in respect to this
set .
What might not be known yet is another variety. The camel rider appears
in different sizes. The issue Y34-40 first had a smaller picture than
YA43 to YG43. I found 5 and 10 millim pieces of 1966 (Y36 and Y37) with
the camel rider size of YC43 and YD43. As I found the difference recent-
ly I have no material to go through in order to find out when the change
in size began and if it refers to other denominations as well. Maybe
somebody else has more information on that or material to find out
about it than I have in my collection. By the way, the Krause-Mishler
1979 edition gives the larger size camel rider illustration for the
10 millim piece (Y37 - 1966).
Also, in the same issue (p41) is an article by Darrel J. Doll on "Hitler
Election Tokens". The translation of "Der deutschen Arbeit wollen wir
den Weg zur Freiheit bahnen" as "The German Workers Desire the Way to
Freedom" does not give the emphasis of the German version. The sense
is rather "We (i.e. the Nazi Party) are going to open up the way to
freedom for the German workers" (literally "for the German work", work
here meaning not only workers, in 3rd Reich they all were workers,
either "workers of intellect" or "workers with hands").
Also "Der Fuhrer aus der Not Adolf Hitler" is not just "The Leader of
the Movement" but "the Leader who leads out of the misery".
197
My English is not all that good but I think my translation is a better
one in respect of grammar, etc., but at least it will give more of
the emphasis, which lies in the German sentences.
Wilhelm R. Eglseer
Bonn-Lengsdorf , West Germany
Tamerlane & Babur - Welcomes Album’s commentary
I was pleased to receive a copy of Steve Album's commentary on Tamer-
lane and Babur (see pages 210-211 of this issue of the NI BULLETIN) .
I'm delighted that he took the time and made the effort to give such
detailed additional insights into the coinages discussed. This infor-
mation is useful to me and should be also to other NI members interest-
ed in Asian numismatics. This kind of responsive information exchange
is proof that the organization is alive and that its publication is
serving a very worthwhile purpose for its members.
Whenever I make an error, I welcome a correction, and especially in
this case because Steve Album obviously has more extensive sources than
I do and he can not only correct but also add new information.
Just a word, however, on my own sources: For the question of timing
of Timur's independence and the use of his name alone on his coins, my
source was Mitchiner's World of Islam , p. 276-277: "By 771 (1369 AD)
he (Timur) had usurped effective power though he continued to admit
the sovereignty of the Jagatai Khans Suyurghatmish and Mahmud until
800 (1397-98 AD)... Timur acknowledged no suzerain after AH 800 but
issues of coins in Timur's name alone commenced earlier." Again, p.
276: Timur was "nominally subject to Suyurghatmish Jagatai until 790,
then to Mahmud Jagatai until 800. Then autonomous" — the implication
being that autonomy was not achieved so long as he was even 'nominally
subject" to the Khans.
The underlining above is mine. The first underlining would seem to be
in conflict with Steve Album's statement: "Only in the year 806... did
he... strike coins in his own name alone." The second underlining ad-
dresses his statement that "Timur was never other than independent of
the ... Jagatai . " But this defining of 'independence'' is quibbling and
relatively unimportant numismatically .
Please note that there would appear to be an omission of wording in
the last paragraph of the first page of Steve Album's commentary, for
his statement that "in 1362, there had been no gold coinage of any
sort in Central Asia... for about a century" runs into reference to
"these latest gold coins, struck in Khojend, Bukhara and perhaps else-
where after 1251." It is not clear to me what "these gold coins"
refers to, and words may have been omitted in the typing.
I am aware of the debate on the authenticity of Timur's memoirs, but
nothing I have seen so far has convinced me they are spurious.
David G. Briggs,
Meredith, New Hampshire
198
Early Writers on
Coins of Asia • II
ROBERT KNOX, captive in Ceylon
by David G. Briggs , Meredith, New Hampshire, NI #1444
On the 19th of November in 1659, a British East India Company merch-
ant ship, the frigate ANN , was caught in a ferocious storm while
sailing from Madras to Pondicherry along the southeast coast of
India. She narrowly escaped being wrecked, and the crew had to cut
away the main mast at deck level to save her from capsizing. When
the storm abated, the ANN limped into the great harbor of Trincomalee
on the eastern coast of Ceylon for repairs.
A landing party of 15 men, headed by the Captain, Robert Knox, Sr.,
went ashore and while in search of provisions and timber for a new
mast, they were taken prisoner - politely but effectively - by a con-
tingent of the army of Raja Singha II (1635-1687), the Sinhalese king.
They were escorted up steep jungle trails to the capital in Kandy in
the central highlands of Ceylon.
The captives, including the Captain's 19 year old son, were scattered
in villages in the vicinity of Kandy, given houses and food by the
villagers (on the King's order), and allowed to move about freely in
the village and even in the surrounding countryside. Captain Knox
soon died of malaria, but his son survived recurring fevers and
adapted well to this new life. He learned the language and wore
Sinhalese clothing, but unlike most of his fellow prisoners, he did
not marry a village girl.
The captives earned an income at first by knitting caps and selling
them to the villagers. They soon glutted the market for caps, how-
ever, and most turned to farming. The young Robert Knox set himself
up as a farmer-trader, lending grain to Sinhalese farmers for a 50%
profit and establishing an itinerant trade route through a number of
villages. He prospered, and built himself a new house that had few
equals even among the local nobility. He also used his freedom of
circulation to observe Sinhalese life in great detail.
After nearly 20 years of this "captivity", he found that the guard
posts along the roads and trails had relaxed their vigilance, accept-
ing his comings and goings as normal. And in 1679 Robert Knox and a
fellow captive set out on a trading route northward - and made it
safely to Dutch-controlled territory along the coast north of Co-
lombo .
During his return voyage to England, Knox wrote a book filled with
199
<
S v K :lo \ i . Fj- :t t -/,-/// W'liitf tt, -stand* iLitf th.fii nt List Lit Crnfr !r F r, -Jam haunt.
[ i.'fln P-, '! " >' r tt , h Lf LfmP '^Pn rtinq fen Spoilt t/i.-y I. Vt ‘ah fra l
t /'/••• 1 1 rij 1 t Cfjt i/uj. tally ftet, unit) Ha (rvlons lyl ttrtjtt nnyaflir^ ’ nijiu Baa/:
CAPTAIN ROBERT KNOx
From the engraving by White in the
Bodleian Library; Oxford
200
201
AN
Hiftorical Relation
the 3fflan&
CEYLON,
IN THE
EAST-INDIES :
TOGETHER,
With an ACCOUNT of the Detaining
in Captivity the Author and divers other
Engltjbmtn now Living there, and of the
Author s Miraculous E S C A P E.
Illuftrated with Figures, and a Map of the ISLAND.
By ROBERT K NO X, a Captive there
near Twenty Years.
LONDON ,
Printed by Richard Cbifweil , Printer to the
Royal Society, at the ‘Ro/* and Crown in
St. Pants Church-yard , i 6 8 i.
—
FACSIMILE OF TITLE PAGE OF 1681 EDITION
fascinating details of daily life in the Kandy kingdom. When An
Historical Relation of Ceylon was published by the Royal Society in
London in 1681, it was an immediate success. It provided one of the
principal inspirations for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. And it
as been a source-book for historians, anthropologists, sociologists
- and numismatists - interested in details of the original Sinhalese
culture as it was preserved almost intact in the highlands against
the depredations of European colonial settlement along the coast.
202
'Of Money," Knox wrote in his succinct, almost Biblical style,
"they have but three sorts that passeth for Coin in the King's
Dominions. The one was Coined by the Portugals, the King's Arms
on one side, the Image of a Frier on the other, and by the Cingu-
layes (Sinhalese) called Tangom massa. The value of one is nine
pence English, Poddi Tangom, or the small Tangom is half as much.
"There is another sort, which all People by the king's Permission
may and do make. The shape is like a fish-hook, they stamp what
mark or impression on it they please. The Silver is purely fine
beyond pieces of Eight. For if any suspect the goodness of the
Plate, it is the Custom to burn the Money in the fire red hot, and
so put it in water: and if it be not then purely white, it is not
Currant Money.
"The third sort of Money is the King's proper Coin. For none upon
pain of Death may Coin it. It is called a Ponnam. It is as small
as a Spangle: Seventy five make a piece of Eight, or a Spanish
Dollar. But all sorts of Money is here very scarce: And they
frequently buy and sell by exchanging Commodities."
What manner of money were these "three sorts that passeth for Coin
in the King's Dominions"?
In his classic study Ceylon Coins and Currency , British numismatist
K. W. Codrington cites this passage from Knox and identifies the
coins as:
"(1) Portuguese double and single tangas of the Saint type,
the tangom massa and the podi (little) tangama, worth 9d. and 4-l/2d.;
"(2) Larins, made by private parties, five of which went to
the piece-of-eight ; and
"(3) Silver fanams, struck by the king, of which 'seventy five
make a piece of Eight, or a Spanish Dollar '."1
"One Coined by the Portugals"
The Portuguese first landed in Ceylon in 1505, established themselves
in the coastal areas, and governed there with close ties to their en-
claves at the Indian ports of Goa, Damao and Diu. Although they are
believed to have had a small mint in Ceylon, most of the coinage they
used there was struck at Goa. Some of the silver coins produced at
Goa were exclusively for use in Ceylon.
In a discussion of early mint operations there, Goan numismatist
Rebello^ gives some insight into the tangas with "the King's Arms
on one side, and the Image of a Frier on the other" (Fig. 1) :
1 - H. W. Codrington, Ceylon Coins and Currency , Colombo, 1924
(Reprinted 1975), p. 174.
2 - Fenelon Rebello, Some of the Rarer Specimens in Early Indo-
Portuguese Coinage, Goa (1970). Pp. 37, 39, and 40.
203
rigure 1
"The Portuguese as well as the Spanish rulers, in following the
religious trends, ordered effigies of saints of their names to be
struck on the coins of India. Thus we have St. Sebastian, St. Philip
and St. John depicted on some of the silver specimens of this coinage,
during almost a century up to 1656, when it was discontinued...
"Silver specimens showing the effigy of a saint were struck
during the reign of the next three kings, the Filipes of Spain,
namely Filipe I (1580-1599), Filipe II (1599-1621), and Filipe III
(1621-1640) ."
Rebello illustrates two examples dated 1640 and 1641: first, "a
dupla tanga struck during the government of Antonio Telles de Menzies
(Governor of Portuguese India 1639-1640). Although the Spanish kings
were no longer rulers of Portugal (after 1640) , the fact being at
that time unknown in India, coins continued to be struck with the
same design also in 1641, during the government of Joao da Silva
Tello de Menezes (1640-1645)."
3
Codrington adds to this series: "In 1642, 1643, and 1644 were is-
sued at Goa the xerafim, and the double, single and half tanga, all
with the effigy of St. John the Baptist, the royal patron saint, in
lieu of St. Philip. It is the double and single tanga of these and
subsequent issues which are mentioned by Knox under the names of
'Tangom massa' and 'Poddi tangom'."
Elsewhere, Codrington also includes in the Knox reference the double
and single tangas "struck at Goat for use in Ceylon... of the Saint
type, of the years 1650, 1651, 1652, and 1653.
A double tanga of the St. John type dated 1850 is illustrated in the
Grogan Collection catalogue^ with the notation:
"Deja sous le regne de D. Filippe III (au St. Philippe debout)
et encore sous D. Joao IV (au St. Jean), on frappait a la Monnaie
de Goa pour la circulation en Goa des monnaies a ce meme type. Mais
un decret du 8 fevrier 1650 fit cesser 1' emission des monnaies de ce
type, pour le circulation en Goa, en remplafant la figure de Saint
Jean par la croix de l'ordre du Christ avec la date dans les angles
3 - Op. cit. p. 94.
4 - H. W. Codrington, Catalogue of Coins in the Colombo Museum , Part
I, Hertford, 1914, pp. 21-22.
5 - J. Schulman, Amsterdam, Feb. 23, 1914, VEnte "Collection Henry
Thomas Grogan", p. 73, // 1 3 2 6 . (Fig. 1 is copied from this
illustration. )
204
de la croix. Les 'doubles tangas' avec les dates 1650, 51, 52 et
53 encore au type de S. Joao sont done f rappees a Goa main pour
Ceylon , la circulation en Goa Stant d£fendue."
"A fish-hook. . .which all People do make11
Figure 2
The larin (Fig. 2) is a primitive form of money made by
doubling a piece of silver wire, then stamping the
sides with a coin die, and sometimes turning back one
end of the doubled wire so that it resembles a fish
hook. It reportedly originated in the Persian Gulf
port of Lari early in the sixteenth century, and its
popularity spread through the Arabian Sea coastal trade
routes as far south as Ceylon. Their production spread
as well, and they are known to have originated in
Persia at El Basra and Kormuz; across the Gulf in El
Rasa, Arabia; in the Indian kingdom of Bijapur which
formed the hinterland of Portuguese Goa; in the Maidive
islands; and in Ceylon.
"The first record of the use of larins in Ceylon,"
according to Codrington^, "was in 1517 when the then King of Kotte
is credited with the story of a homicide which occurred in his youth
at Sitawaka, and in which the blood fine was 60 larins."
It was the report by Captain Knox, however, which testified to the
lack of royal control and standardization under which any artisan in
the Kandy Kingdom could turn his workshop into a mint for the pro-
duction of larins.
The resultant diversity was encountered by American numismatist How-
land Wood in his study of some 819 larins found in a hoard in
Ceylon7. He wrote:
"In Ceylon, since the larins were of private manufacture, every
conceivable device for stamping was employed except dies for striking
coins. Many were made from coins themselves acting as dies... In
most instances the dies were dies made for the purpose of striking
larins, generally the size of the piece, sometimes a little larger...
Naturally some of the dies were cut carefully and delicately, others
roughly and crudely; some are in low and some in high relief...
"Being made in large quantities for a great number of years by
men familiar with metal working they would naturally be fabricated
in the easiest and simplest manner possible. In fact it is surpris-
ing, considering that so many different people must have made them
in so many different places, that more variations of manufacture
do not appear."
Given their profusion in earlier days, Wood speculates about their
comparative scarcity today:
6 - Ceylon Coins and Currency , p. 95.
7 - Howland Wood, The Gampola Larin Hoard, New York, 1934, pp. 27-
28.
205
Today they are scarce throughout all of those regions where
once they were so plentiful... What has become of the countless
numbers once in Ceylon where elephants loaded down with them were
captured.; Gradually as they ceased to be current or in demand for
purposes of trade, they were melted down on account of their fine
grade of silver, and the wire coin went into the round coin or into
other wire, into jewelry and silver ornaments. Also in later days
when they came into the hands of silversmiths and money changers
they were not recognized as coins sought after and went their way
into the crucible."®
'The King's proper Coin"
This coin, "as small as a Spangle" which none
but the royal mint could produce "upon pain of
Death", was evidently a close relative of the
silver fanam so widely used in South India (Fig.
3) . Codrington finds evidence for this in both
its etymology and its design:
"That the fanam. . .was brought to Ceylon from the Tamil country
(of India) is apparent from the formation of its Sinhalese name
panama , plur. panam. Its currency was continuous from the middle
of the fourteenth century...
"In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Pandyan inscriptions
record the existence of the kaliyugaraman panam... which, perhaps,
derived its name from Kaliyugaraman, the title of Maravarman Vira
Pandya of Tinnevelly (c. A.D. 1422-1441); this coin, presumably, is
the Kali fanam... and the predecessor in type of the Malabar Vira raya.
fanam.
"The 'Sinhalese fanam' of of this type. It may, therefore, be
supposed that the gold fanam in use since the fourteenth century was
imported into the Island in the course of trade, that the first
'Sinhalese fanam' of silver was struck between 1454 and 1506 on the
model of the then current gold fanam and in imitation of the silver
fanam of the Continent. "9
He also notes that while the silver Sinhalese fanam is usually of
very base metal "sometimes hardly distinguishable from copper", a
few do show a slight gold content, indicating that it had gradually
evolved from an original gold coin.^
The design on these tiny coins is as debased as the metal. The
lines on the obverse are generally believed to represent the standing
figure found on the bronzes of the Kandy Kings of the 11th to 13th
centuries, derived in turn from the ubiquitous Raja Raja coins of
the Cholas of south India. The fanam design is perhaps closer to
the crude figure on the Dutch Negapatam coppers (Fig. 4) which also
evolved from the Chola standing figure model.
Figure 3
8 - Ibid . , p . 26 .
9 - Ceylon Coins and Currency , pp. 80-81.
10 - Ibid. , p. 175.
206
Figure 4
The fanam obverse shows a vertical oval, open at the top (the head
and torso), over two arched lines extending down at the sides to
enclose a double row of dots (legs and dhoti) . The reverse has a
horizontal line bent upward on the left , with two dots above the
middle, from which rise two vertical lines. Below are three rows
of four dots each. This design has always seemed to me to resemble
the curved prow and twin masts of the shallow-draft cargo boats which
even today ply the inland waterways along the Malabar coast. But
Codrington says "it may be the last stage of corruption on the sittin
figure (on the Chola and Kandy models) or perhaps of Nagari letters.'
Unlike the Viva raya fanam in south India, these Sinhalese fanams
are seldom seen today in Ceylon and must be very rare. One is illus-
trated in a "Price Catalogue of Ancient Coins of Ceylon" by T. M.
de Silva Abeywardene (pi. Ill, no. 144), published in Colombo in
1952. The example shown in Codrington' s Ceylon Coins and Currency
(p. 175, pi. 168) is a Vira raya fanam of Malabar.
In the Kandy kingdom a couple of centuries before Knox was taken
prisoner, and in the European colonial economies in Ceylon during
and after Knox's sojourn there, copper and bronze coins played a
major role in meeting the needs of commerce. So it is interesting
that he made no mention of any such coins in circulation. In de-
scribing the small purchase type of transaction in the market place,
he says: "For Money being very scarce. Corn passeth instead of
Money.” This may explain the omission. And once again Knox's
fascinating account of life in the Kandyan kingdom helps us under-
stand the context of the numismatics of Ceylon during a time of
crucial transition in that country's history from an ancient in-
dependent culture to a European colony.
11 - Ibid. , p. 173.
********************************************************************
THE DOLLAR SIGN
The origination of the $ sign has many theories, but most widely ac-
cepted is that it evolved from the Spanish "Ps", the plural symbol
for Pesos, Piastres, or pieces of eight. The theory, derived from a
study of old manuscripts, is that the "S" gradually came to be written
over the :,P':. This developed, of course, a close equivalent to the
$ sign which was officially adopted for the U.S. dollar in 1785.
207
A SANTO DOMINGO/MARACAIBO OVERSTRIKE
by K. W. Wiggins a Crowborough, East Sussex 3 England 3 NI #1290
The coin illustrated above is a copper 1/4 real of Santo Domingo, the
present day Dominican Republic in the West Indies. Although not dated
the coin was struck during the reign of Ferdinand VII , King of Spain
from 1808 to 1833, during the period from 1808 to 1822 when part of
the island was under Spanish occupation.
An interesting feature of this particular piece is that it was struck
on another coin. The piece used to provide the flan eluded detection
until recently, when I decided that it was a 1/2 real piece of the
Province of Maracaibo (Craig No. 10). The sketch to the right of the
photo above probably shows more clearly the points which led me to
this conclusion.
Overstrikes occur rather infrequently when there is a propensity on
the part of those engaged in producing the coins to strike one coin
on another for reasons of curiosity or maybe mere meddling. They oc-
cur somewhat more frequently when, for reasons of economy, old or
obsolete coins are used as a' temporary measure to provide flans for
another coinage. In which category the above piece falls, it is dif-
ficult to say, unless and until further examples of similar overstrikes
come to light. It may then be possible to conclude that they were
struck for the second reason given.
An explanation for this particular overstrike may bear some relation
to the events that occurred in both Venezuela and Santo Domingo during
the early part of the 19th century.
The Spaniards took possession of part of Santo Domingo about 1806,
after the French had evacuated Haiti (the northern part of the island) .
In Venezuela a revolt against Spanish rule broke out in 1811 and the
struggle for independence continued for a decade or more; the Spaniards
finally being isolated in several areas around the coast. By 1820 it
was still necessary for the insurgents to rid Venezuela of the last of
the Spanish troops and in November, Bolivar signed an armistice with
the Spanish commander Marillo, who promptly returned to Spain. Two
months later the patriot forces marched on the Royalist stronghold
of Maracaibo and on 24th June, 1821, Bolivar's army defeated the
Spanish at Carabobo. The last Royalist strongholds were annihilated
shortly afterwards.
The connection between Santo Domingo and Maracaibo is clear from a
glance at a map. The former lies some 450 miles north of the coast
of South America and would form a convenient base which could be
reasonably reached by the Spaniards when under pressure on the mainland
208
from the revolutionaries. Although there is no real evidence on
this point , it seems possible that the Spanish authorities, when
evacuating their last possessions about Maracaibo, took with them to
Santo Domingo a quantity of their locally struck copper coin, where
it was converted to currency for use on the island.
*********************************************************************
MORE LIBRARY SPACE IS NEEDED URGENTLY
by Granuy l G. Hulse, Jr. _, NI Librarian
Thanks to the generosity of NI members , the Library is facing a serious
space problem. Before extra funds are spent to tear out walls to ex-
pand our present shelf area, it has been suggested that the members
might be better served by setting up two sub-libraries. The first
would be for catalogs and price lists and one later for magazines and
newspapers. The transfer of this material from the main library would
open up shelf space for more books in the present library.
We are looking for a member who is in a permanent residence, who has
the spare equivalent space of a small bedroom, can put up shelves at
his own expense and would be willing to receive, file and index the
NI sales catalog collection. There is more involved, but the above is
the basic requirement.
Anyone interested in taking on this project should contact the Librarian
direct .
*********************************************************************
THE POLISH "KWARTNIK" COIN
by Arthur J. Majewski , Detroit, Michigan, NI #1166
When Poland found itself flooded with coins of many Polish monarchs ,
of many diffemt types and by various foreign coins of strange denom-
inations at a time when illiteracy pervaded Europe, the common man
ignored all that "lettering" and simply weighed the silver. Thus a
base called a "grzywna" was established. This base equaled the present
day eight ounces .
Since a half pound of silver was too large a unit for silver, the
silver grzywna was further divided into 24 skojc. The Slask ("Silesia"
or ancient Poland) Dukes struck heavier coins equaling a quarter of a
skojc. From this derives the word "kwartnik".
This began circa 1290 A.D. Thus 96 kwartniks were struck from a
grzywna took, the kwartniks were known as half groze.
Another term for kwartnik was "denari quartenses".
Kwart only signified one-fourth. No coin carried the name "kwartnik",
but all half grosz coins at that time and for some time subsequent
thereto were called that.
209
A FURTHER NOTE ON TAMERLANE & BABUR
by Stephen Album , Santa Rosa, California, NI # 264
In the May 1980 issue of the NI BULLETIN , Mr. David G. Briggs presented
some interesting numismatic notes gleaned from the autobiographical
works of Tamerlane and Babur ("Early Writers on Coins of Asia", ppl34-137)
I - Tamerlane
The matter of Timur's early coinage (Timur the Lame, known in the West
as Tamerlane) is a difficult and poorly understood subject. Briggs'
statement that his coinage in his own name began shortly before "he
established his independence from the Jagati Khans in 1397" is mis-
leading and inaccurate, for Timur was never other than independent of
the Chaghatayids (or Jagatai) . In fact, ever since the death of Khan
Danishmenje in AH748 (1347/48), the Chaghatayid khan was essentially
a figurehead set up by whomsoever was the leading amir within the
khanate. These amirs squabbled amongst themselves for paramountcy,
and in 771 (1369/70), Timur succeeded in eliminating the last of his
rival amirs and consolidating his own authority over the whole of the
Western Chaghatayid patrimony. However, he did not make himself khan,
but rather preserved the fiction of the Chaghatayid khanate, first
naming Suyurghatmish , son of Danishmenje (771-790), then Mahmud, son
of Suyurghatmish (790-805). Only in the year 806, fully one year after
Mahmud's death, did he remove Mahmud's name from the coinage and strike
coins in his own name alone , which he did only in the years 806 and
807, for he died in the latter year (=AD1405).
(The earliest coins, including one dated specimen on which the date is
either 778 or 780, are in the name of Suyurghatmish alone; only in 781
did Timur add his own name alongside that of Suyurghatmish, at mints
in Samarqand and Khwarizm.)
Before discussing the mysterious durust , we should note that the
Malfuzat-i-Timuri, while purporting to be Timur's autobiography, was
in fact composed by a certain Mir Abu Talib Husaini in or shortly be-
fore 1637, nearly three centuries later than the period which it
treats. Abu Talib is said to have translated a Turki original which
he found in the library of the Ottoman governor of the Yemen, but
modem scholarship regards that as doubtful. Even if so, the Turki
original cannot be ascribed to Timur's lifetime, and would have had
to be completed a century or more later.
The word durust is a common Persian word meaning "right, correct, com-
plete, healthy, etc.". When said of coins, it means something like
"full weight or alloy", and sometimes, "pure", especially of gold or
silver. It was used to refer to certain very massive presentation
coins or medals allegedly struck by Timur upon his conquest of Damascus
in 1401. Since the Malfuzat acknowledges that the durust of circa
1362 was a small gold coin, the large medals represent an entirely
different usage of the term.
However, the identification of the durust in the Malfuzat is not sim-
ple, for in 1362, there had been no gold coinage of any sort in Central
Asia (Mavara al-Nahr) for about a century, but these latest gold coins,
210
struck in Khojend, Bukhara and perhaps elsewhere after 1251 were cer-
tainly not durust , for they were of heavily alloyed gold and varied
considerably in weight (see E. A. Davidovich, Klady Drevnikh i Sred-
nevekovjkh lionet Tadzhikistana } p. 235-6).
Another possibility for the durust would be some sort of foreign gold
coin, but here, too, the evidence is slim. In fact, gold coinage
largely ended throughout Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia very soon
after the Mongol successor states based their monetary systems on
silver coinage: the Ilkhanid kingdom in Iran and Iraq did have some
gold, but it was largely struck in Iraq, except for a couple of de-
cades in the 1320 's and 1330's, when mints throughout Iran participated
in the striking of gold coins, of pure alloy, but irregular weights.
After the demise of the Ilkhanids in 1335, gold coinage is restricted
to the Jalayrid territories in Iraq and a few, probably ceremonial,
issues in Iran. The Golden Horde, heirs to the northwestern Mongol
conquests, issued no gold whatsoever, while the Chaghatayids, who suc-
ceeded to the central portions of the Mongol Empire, struck no pure
gold whatsoever, and no debased gold after about 1260. The only
foreign gold which could have circulated in Central Asia was in fact
from India, where the Delhi sultans, especially after about 1300, were
striking gold in substantial quantities , specimens of which are not
infrequently found with the territory of the modern Soviet Union.
But these were large gold coins, of about 10-1/2 grams, not the small
pieces attested by the l-hlfuzat.
There remains one possibility. The city of Khwarizm, which had formed
the Easternmost outpost of the territories of the Golden Horde for
more than century, fell to a local dynasty known as the Sufids in
AH 762 (1361), and for 21 years, 765-786 inclusive, a regular coinage
was maintained not only in copper and silver, but also in gold. More-
over, these coins are of quite pure alloy, and adhere to a well-
maintained standard of 1/4 miskal (about 1.13 gm.), standing in a
relationship to the silver dinar that would yield a silver-gold re-
lationship of 1:10. The series has recently been catalogued by G. A.
Fedorov-Davydov ("Numizmatika Khorezma Zolotoordynskogo Periodo", in
llurrizmatika i Epigrafika , vol. 5 [1965]).
There remains but one obstacle to identifying these Khwarizmian coins
with the durust of the i-lalfuzat , for they are indeed small, of fine
alloy, and of carefully regulated weight. The incident in which they
are mentioned supposedly took place two years BEFORE they were first
coined. Given that the early history of Timur is semi-legendary at
best, a later compilation of orally preserved tales and anecdotes, it
would cause no surprise if the later author, be he Abud Talib or the
author of the reputed Turki "original", might have confounded several
incidents or anachronistically referred to some particular coin,
especially since the alleged date of the incident is so close to the
commencement of the coinage. It is also possmle that the coinage of
small gold at Khwarizm began a few years earlier than 765, the date of
the earliest known specimen, perhaps as early as 762/1360-61, the year
of the Sufid takeover and also the year of the first anonymous silver
coins assigned to the Sufids. Thus the discrepancy in date between
the known commencement of the coins and the incident in which their
use is reported is not a serious obstacle, and we can assert with
little doubt that the durust was the Khwarizmian gold coin struck
211
by the Sufids from at least as early as 765 until 786 (including is-
sues dated 781 in the names of Suyurghatmish and Timur: Federov-
Davydov's Type no. 11).
The small gold coin published by C. J. Rodgers, Catalogue of the Coins
(1894), page 141, is not a coin of Shahrukh, son of Tamerlane, but
rather one of a much later Shahrukh, grandson of Sulayman Mirza and
ruler in Badakhshan (N.E. Afghanistan today) circa 973-992/1566-84.
Further coins of this type are published by N. M. Lowick, "More on
Sulaiman Mirza and his Contemporaries", Numis . Chron. 3 7th series,
Vol. 12 (1972), p. 285.
II - BABUR
Only one addition need be made here to Mr. Briggs' commentary, regard-
ing the identification of the masses of coin carted off by Babur in
912/1507 from Qandahar. As Qandahar is not known to have been a mint-
place until somewhat later (the earliest known coin is dated 926, an
anonymous issue of Shah Shuja Arghun shortly before his defeat by Babur
on a later occasion). The coins were undoubtedly foreign silver, most
probably tankas of Sultan Husayn (1470-1506), the Arghunids' former
overlord. Sultan Husayn' s silver coinage was one of the most prodig-
ious in the East , and his tankas are found today in large numbers from
Central Turkey as far East as Delhi in India. It would be logical to
assume that Shah Shuja 's treasure most likely consisted on these well-
known, widely accepted silver tankas.
**********************************************************************
1979-1980 FAO PAGES 4-6 ANNOUNCED
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recently
announced in its Newsletter 27 the probable composition of page 4-6
of the 1979/80 Money Collection. They are as follows:
Page 4
Brazil 5 cruzeiros 1980
Cook Islands 10 cents
Italy 100 lire 1979
Italy 200 lire 1980
Maldives 10 rupees 1979
West Africa 25 francs 1980
Page 5
Cook Islands 50 cents
Burma 50 pyas 1979
Fiji 50 cents 1979
San Marino 200 lire 1979
Tonga 2 pa'anga 1980
Turkey 1 kurus 1979 bronze
Page 6
Brazil 1 centavo 1979
India 10 paise 1980
Nepal 10 paise 1979
Tonga 1 pa'anga 1980
Turkey 1 kurus 1979 al.
Tonga 20 pa'anga gold
These three pages will cost $50.00 US and are available for FAO Money
(Rome), 1776 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20437.
A note of interest is that individual pieces from Turkey are available
only from the bank in Turkey where they are sold at a small premium.
At the present rate of exchange, 1 kuru is about 1/4 of a mill.
212
IDENTIFICATION, Please?
R. C. Soxman of LIMARC recently sent me an interesting piece that he
and Ran Zander had given up on identifying. I also give up. The piece
is of lead, approximately 35mm in diameter and 2mm thick and is uniface.
Inside a large circle (near the rim) is a figure 4 with a heart (undi-
vided) very similar to the balemark of the East India Company found on
many tokens and coins of Sumatra, Singapore, Ceylon, etc. Inside the
heart are quite large letter U U. The piece is very crude. Can any-
one help?
Marvin L. Fraley
2813 - 57th St.
Lubbock, TX 79413
Recently I received in a bag of coins a number of brightly colored
plastic counters (?). The obverse has the Guernsey arms and name while
the reverse has various values in pence such as 2d, 3d, 4d plus one
piece with ''4 Doubles" and "1910" below. Some others in the lot have
various coats of arms but no indication as to whether they are Great
Britain, New Zealand or Australia. Exactly what are they and also,
do people collect them?
I. C. G. Campbell
RR Box 200 GG
Weeping Water, Nebraska
The No. 2 item listed in this column recently {NIB, April 1980, pll4)
is a shooting medal. There were any number of them from about 1860-
1914. The use of Lord Robert's head is due to his interest in the
Reserves, etc. He forecast World War I and urged preparations. He
died in 1914.
0. D. Cresswell
Belfast , N. Ireland
Above are three uniface items submitted by W. A. Haskell. All are of
paper with the round ones being on heavier paper. Can anyone help?
213
NEW ISSUES WITH ASSIGNED YEOMAN NUMBERS
(The catalog numbers assigned to new issue coin listings published
here are supplied and copyrighted by Western Publishing Co., Inc.,
Whitman Coin Products, Racine, Wise., U.S.A. No further use of these
numbers in any other publication is authorized.)
* Collectors' Coins
AUSTRIA
* Y162 500 Schilling 1980, .640 Silver, 25th Anniv. State Treaty
BRAZIL
Y102 10 Cruzeiros 1980, Steel (23mm)
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
* Y21 25 Dollars 1980, .500 Gold (13.03mm), The Osprey
* Y22 100 Dollars 1980, .900 Gold (24mm), 400th Anniv. Drake's
Voyage
(Note: Y22 has been renumbered from previous listing as Y21)
GREECE
* Y82 100 Drachmai 1978, .650 Silver (31mm), 50th Anniv. Bank of
Greece
ISLE OF MAN
* Y40a-45a 1/2 Penny to 50 Pence 1980, Silver, Collectors' Sets
* Y40b-45b 1/2 Penny to 50 Pence 1980, .9167 Gold, Collectors' Sets
* Y40c-45c 1/2 Penny to 50 Pence 1980, .950 Platinum, Collectors' Sets
MEXICO
Y107 5 Pesos 1980, Cupro-Nickel (27.1mm)
MONACO
Y36 2 Francs 1979, Nickel (26.5mm)
NETHERLANDS
Y67 1 Gulden 1980, Nickel (25mm), Investiture of New Queen
Y68 2-1/2 Gulden 1980, Nickel (29mm), Investiture of New Queen
NORWAY
* Y86 200 Kroner 1980, .625 Silver (36mm), 35th Anniv. of Liberation
PANAMA
* Y63 20 Balboas 1980, .500 Silver (61mm), Sesquicentennial of Bolivar
* Y64 100 Balboas 1980, .900 Gold (26.16mm), El Condor Real de Oro
(Note: Y64 has been renumbered from previous listing as Y63.)
POLAND
Y100
* Y101
* Y102
* Y103
* Y104
* Y105
* Y106
* Y106a
* Y107
50 Zlotych 1979, Cupro-Nickel (31mm), Prince Mieszko I
(Note: Four commemoratives of 1979 reported earliers are
being renumbered as follows:)
100 Zlotych 1979, Silver, Zamenhof
100 Zlotych 1979, Silver, Environment Protection (Lynx)
100 Zlotych 1979, Silver, Environment Protection (Chamois)
2000 Zlotych 1979, Gold, Copernicus
2000 Zlotych 1979, .900 Gold (21mm) , Madame Curie
(Note: The 1980 coinage previously reported is renumbered
as follows:)
200 Zlotych 1980, Silver, Winter Olympics
200 Zlotych as above but no torch mint mark
2000 Zlotych 1980, Gold, Winter Olympics.
214
VATICAN
CITY
Y143
10
Li re
1979,
Aluminum (23.3mm)
Y144
20
Lire
1979,
Aluminum-Bronze (21.3mm)
Y145
50
Lire
1979,
Steel (24.8mm)
Y146
100
Lire
1979
, Steel
Y147
200
Lire
1979
, Aluminum-Bronze
* Y148
500
Lire
1979
, .835 Silver (29mm)
********************************************************************
SALUTATIONS COIN
by I. C. G. Campbell, Weeping Water, Nebraska , NI DLM-15
A zecchino orgold ducat of the Doge Carlo Contarini (1655-56)
Obv. : Doge kneeling before St. Mark
(Note: This is NOT the ducat discussed below, but merely an
example of the type.)
The beautiful medieval coin illustrated above was known as the "Salute
d'Oro" of Charles I of Naples; he also minted the ’Salute d'Argento".
It was so called because the obverse shows the Annunciation or Angel's
Salute (greeting) to Mary. With so many city-states and small states
in the middle ages, there are an enormous variation of coin names. It
was called by the French "Salut d'Or" and by the English 'Salute d'Oro"
Charles was a French king (Anjou) and in the right half of the shield
on the reverse are the lilies of France, with the crosses of Sicily
to the left side. Charles I ruled 1266-85; he was followed by his
brother Charles II. Not unnaturally the same type of coins was issued
by the French kings subsequently (with a different quartering of arms).
Thus it was that when Henry V of England became also the Regent of
France (by a treaty called Troyes) in 1422 he also issued a Salute
d'Or (French was still used as much as English in the ruling circles)
and he divided the English arms with those of France. His son, Henry
VI, struck them in Calais, Paris, Dijon, Amiens and elsewhere. This
is perhaps easier to understand if one knows that parts of France -
sometimes a considerable portion - were English possessions, up to
the final loss of Calais under Mary of England 1553-58.
With the tremendous varieties of coinages all over Europe in this
period, coins were often named from some characteristic, rather than
by a denomination. The best known would be the "bezant" of the Eastern
(or Byzantine) Empire; or the "ducats" of Venice.
215
CONTENTS OF THE NI REFERENCE COLLECTION
(Only coins grading FINE or better are befoig listed in this continuing
inventory of the NI EEFEEENCE COLLECTION. Members desiring to borrow
coins from the collection for research purposes , lecture use , non-
competitive displays , or any other reasons, may do so by paying pos-
tage and. insurance both directions . Coins which are underlined are
UNCIRCULATED. )
NEPAL: Y42 - 1935, Y78a - 1964, Y79 - 1959; Y83 - 1956; Y91 - 1969;
Y98 - 1971; Y99 - 1972; Y106 - 1973; Y107 - 1974; Y108 - 1974.
NETHERLANDS: YF-2 - 1787; Y2 - 1876; Y4 - 1878, 1881, 1882; Y7 -
1877, 1889; Y35 - 1912; Y36 - 1922, 1925, 1926, 1930, 1937 thru
1941; Y37 - 1915; Y39 - 1918, Y40 - 1916, 1917; Y43 - 1928, 1937,
1941, 1944P, 1945P; Y44 - 1928, 1939, 1941, 1944P; Y45 - 1921,
1930; Y46 - 1931, 1939; Y47 - 1929, 1931, 1932, 1937; Y48 -
1941, 1942, 1944; Y50 - 1941, 1942; Y51 - 1941, 1942; Y52 - 1942;
Y53 - 1948; Y54 - 1948; Y55 - 1948; Y56 - 1948; Y57 - 1950, 1951,
1953 thru 1978; Y58 - 1950 thru 1977, 1979; Y59 - 1950 thru 1979;
Y60 - 1951 thru 1976, 1978; Y61 - 1954 thru 1977; Y61a - 1967
thru 1978; Y62 - 1959 thru 1966; Y62a - 1969 thru 1972; Y64 -
1970; Y54 - 1973.
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES: Curacao - Y3 - 1944D, 1947; Y4 - 1944D , 1947;
Y5 - 1944D , 1947; Y6 - 1944D, 1947; Y4 - 1944D; Y8 - 1948; Y9 -
1948; Y10 - 1944D; Y36b - 1942P ; Y44a - 1941P.
Antilles - Y1 - 1952, 1949, 1961, 1963, 1965; Y2 - 1959; Y3 -
1963, 1970; Y4 - 1954, 1959; Y5 - 1965; Y9 - 1971; Yll -1970,
1974; Y12 - 1970, 1971.
NEW CALEDONIA: Y1 - 1949; Y2 - 1949; Y3 - 1949; Y4 - 1952; Y5 -
1967, 1970; Y5a - 1972; YA5 - 1971; YA5a - 1973; YB5 - 1971;
Y6 - 1970; Y6a - 1972; Y7 - 1967; Y7a - 1972.
NEW HEBRIDES: Y1 - 1970; Yla - 1973; Y2a - 1973; Y4 - 1970, Y5 -
1970; Y5a - 1973, 1975; Y6 - 1970; Y7a - 1972.
NEW ZEALAND: Y1 - 1933, 1934, 1936; Y2 - 1933: Y7 - 1940, 1941, 1946;
Y8 - 1940, 1942, 1943, 1947; Y10 - 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1943,
1944, 1945; Y22 - 1948; Y24 - 1950; Y28 - 1953, 1957, 1962, 1963,
1964, 1965; Y29 - 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964; Y30 - 1953,
1957, 1962; Y31 - 1957 , 1962 , 1965; Y32 - 1962, 1965; Y33 - 1965;
Y36 - 1967, 1974, 1975; Y37 - 1973, 1974; Y38 - 1967; Y39 - 1967;
Y39a - 1971; Y44 - 1969.
NICARAGUA: Y3 - 1899; Y12 - 1938: Y17 - 1952; Y17a - 1965; Y18 -
1939, 1946, 1950; Y19 - 1946, 1950; Y19a - 1965; Y19b - 1972;
Y20 - 1950; Y24 - 1943 ; Y27 - 1974,; Y28 - 1974.
NIGERIA: Y1 - 1959; Y4 - 1959; Y5 - 1959, 1961, 1962; Y7 - 1973; Y8 -
1973; Y9 - 1973; Y10 - 1973.
NORWAY: Y2 - 1867; Y19 - 1891; Y20 - 1902; Y22 - 1898; Y30 - 1906;
Y32 -
1907;
Y35 -
1940,
1941,
1948, 1950; Y36 - 1931,
1937, 1938,
1946,
1947 ,
1950 ,
1951;
Y37 -
1931, 1936; Y38 - 1919;
Y39 - 1913;
Y47 -
1921;
Y49 -
1926,
1937,
1941; Y51 - 1947; Y52 -
1946;
Y54 -
1944;
Y57 -
1943;
Y59 -
1952 , 1954, 1956 , 1957;
Y60 - 1952 ,
1957;
Y61 -
1952,
1953,
1954,
1955; Y62 - 1952, 1954,
1955, 1957;
Y63 -
1952,
1953;
Y64 -
1953 ;
Y65 - 1957; Y66 - 1958,
1959, 1963,
1964,
1966 ,
1971.
(To
be continued next month
.)
216
BOOK REVIEWS
ORIENTAL COINS AND THEIR VALUES: NON -ISLAMIC STATES and WESTERN
COLONIES AD 600-1979 , by Michael Mitchiner. 12-1/2" x 8-1/2", 640pp,
profusely illustrated. Library style binding. Hawkins Publications,
London 1979 (released 1980). Available from B. A. Seaby, Ltd., Audley
House, 11 Margaret St., London U1N SAT, England and its agents world-
wide. £38 plus postage (approximately $88.00).
This is the completion of the three volume set in the series entitled
ORIENTAL COINS AND THEIR VALUES, it is as important, useful and im-
pressive as the two previous volumes published since 1977.
The coin series considered are the ones issued in the lands situated
from India to Korea and New Guinea, and from Mongolia to Ceylon and
Indonesia. The ancient and Islamic coinages in the countries of this
vast area were dealt with in the earlier volumes , this one contains
a fascinating selection of the coins of the Non-Islamic States.
There are four sections: in the first (of 188 pages) are grouped the
series for the numerous Indian Native States , in Northern India from
the fall of the Gupta Empire until the consolidation of Islamic con-
trol in the thirteenth century; followed by those of Central India,
the Rajput dynasties, the Deccan and Peninsular India from the four-
teenth century. This presentation is supplemented by a discussion
of the encroachment of Islam on the Indian States. In view of the
great interest in the Indian series and its complexity, this section
in which over fourteen hundred coins are catalogued (many of which
have not been previously published and are in fact new to western
literature) , will be the subject of a separate review.
In the second section which covers 82 pages, the coinage struck in
India, Pakistan and Ceylon for the trading enclaves from the sixteenth
century onwards are described. The history of the Portuguese, Dutch,
Danish, French and English settlements is well documented by their
coins, and is continued with the series struck in British India and
Ceylon.
The third section of 164 pages covers the lands bordering the Hima-
layas to South East Asia. In these countries stretching from Tibet
through Nepal, Assam and the kingdoms of Burma and Thailand the
series of coinage is as complete as most collectors would expect to
find anywhere with the exception of Ladakh. The section ends with
the coinages of the early Hindu kingdoms in the Malay peninsula and
Indonesian archipelago as far as New Guinea.
In the final section of 155 pages the plentiful coinage of the Far
East is considered. The selection of the Chinese coinage from the
T’ang Dynasty to the present time, including Turkestan is quite re-
presentative with excellent photos. It concludes with the series of
local coinages struck in the European enclaves and the adjacent
countries of Korea, Annam and Japan.
There are more than 4750 coins catalogued all with clear photographic
illustrations , some enlarged to show the intricate detail for further
217
study. The few coins which have appeared in the previous volumes
bear their "Mitchiner" numbers although some have been overlooked.
The weights of the individual coins are given in the indices, as
is a selected list of reference books, and all coin values in pounds
sterling.
Many readers of the brief notice of the final volume will remember
the first volume, THE WORLD OF ISLMit being discussed in this journal
and then last year the noteworthy event of the next volume, THE ANC-
IENT AND CLASSICAL WORLD , covering the coinage to the seventh century
AD being released. This reviewer notes that the entire work is of
such scope and magnitude that it is necessary to say again what a
truly magnificent accomplishment for an individual to undertake,
let alone to finish the manuscript with all the photography and to
guide it through the press and bindery in such a short period of time.
The survey comprises a marvellous source of reference for coins struck
by rulers in over one thousand dynasties, in lands ranging from the
Atlantic Ocean to the China seas and from Central Asia, south to the
east coast of Africa and Indonesia. It brings a unifying concept to
many cultures whose coinage has never previously been dealt with so
completely and illustrated so well in a single work. In each volume
there is a considerable amount of new information and many coins de-
scribed that have not been previously published.
The reader will find many of the features of the work attractive,
mainly because of the ease with which coins can be traced, identi-
fied and understood in relation to the coins of the known world at
any given period in history. This is due to the extremely success-
ful marriage of text and illustrations conceived by an obviously
experienced collector — sixty percent of the space on each page has
a selection of photographs of coins in natural size, each numbered
and relating to a partial but adequate description with legends and
transliterations clearly printed alongside. The preliminary matter
for each section contains historical background material well written
and informative, with lists of rulers and tables.
The contents pages in each volume, in addition to the excellent index,
facilitates the study of the great empires and dynasties in historical
sequence and invites the reader to study the amazing varieties of
exotic coinage used in these lands throughout the centuries.
It must be remembered that most of the coins described are in the
author's own collection but with the help of friendly collectors and
dealers, some sections were made more representative than would have
been possible otherwise. No attempt was made to include important
specimens of missing coins from museums and similar collections, to
expand the coverage of certain uneven sections , although a printed
reference would have helped the reader to select the best book from
the list given in the index. Nevertheless what the author has given
is a very impressive collection of over fourteen thousand coins pre-
sented in an encyclopedic form.
Although ORIENTAL COINS AND THEIR VALUES takes the place of numerous
books concerning ancient and oriental coins it is still necessary
to obtain the standard catalogues or specialized monographs for more
218
intensive study cf many of the series he discussed.
All important libraries should obtain these volumes, and dealers in
coins, auctioneers, appraisers and coin clubs would be very wise to
invest in them, at a total cost of approximately $254.00 (postage
included) .
(Volume 1 - THE WORLD OF ISLAM , 4000 coins illus., 512pp; Volume 2 -
THE ANCIENT AND CLASSICAL WORLD, 5500 coins illus. 760pp; Volume 3 -
NON -ISLAMIC STATES and WESTERN COLONIES AD 600-1979, 4750 coins illus.,
640pp; all handsomely bound in strong blue cloth binding.)
Reviewed by Kenneth M. Mackenzie
(Ed.: /Is noted, by Ken '/.acKenzie in the above review, the India section
■would be the subject of a separate review. Below is that review of
the India section.)
ORIENTAL COINS AND THEIR VALUES: NON -ISLAMIC STATES and WESTERN
COLONIES AD 600-1979. THE INDIA SECTION.
The India portion is divided into a) Indian and Ceylon, non-Islamic
c. 6th to 20th centuries A.D., 14 parts; b) the Deccan and Peninsular
India, in 8 parts; and c) the Indian Peninsular (central to south),
3 parts.
The first type here shown is Sassanian, modified into the Kepthalite
and Indo-Sassanian. The Islamic groups, mainly N.W. India, or the
area we now call Pakistan, has coins similar in style to the Islamic
coinages one finds throughout the Middle East in the Middle Ages.
The other area, from Kashmir to the Candra kingdom of Chittagong, the
styles found are strictly of Indian origin. This is also true for
Central India to the South, except for such periods (or areas) as
were held by aliens, whether Moslem (Mysore, Arcot , etc.) or European
(Goa - Portuguese; Tranquebar - Danish; Bombay - British; etc.).
Illustrated below are just a very few of the coin types found in the
India section.
Two sides of a Yaudheya coin Reverse of a late
, , _ , Kushan-style coin.
(Drawings by Martha haack, U. of Nebraska
Museum)
2 19
Coin of Mysore , Tipu Sultan
Gold Kushan Coin
For the India section, I think the greatest value and use of this
catalog is that it gathers into one volume information that is found
only in specialized catalogs, or sometimes, only in articles in ob-
scure hard to find Indian scholarly journals of the past and early
20th centuries. It gives as well a remarkably fine perspective of
the native Indian coinages as a whole, not to be found elsewhere.
Should Mitchiner ever do another volume, he would render numismatics
in general, and India in particular, a real service if he put together
the entire Indian native coinages, starting with Mohenj o-Dare , punch-
mark coinages, through the pre-Islamic coinage of N. India, the Deccan,
etc. to the successors of the Vijayanagar Kingdom in the south. This
should include Ceylon whose native coinage, in the times of its terri-
torial expansion, in turn influenced the coinages in the southern tip
of India.
Reviewed by I. C. G. Campbell
AN INTRODUCTION TO CELTIC COINS , by Derek Allen. Soft cover, 80pp,
illus. Published by British Museum Publications, Ltd. (6 Bedford
Square, London WC1B 3RA, England), 1978. Available from the publisher.
This small book is precisely what it claims to be - an introduction to
the ancient Celtic coinage of Europe. It is not, nor does it try to
be, a massive scholarly tome in which an advanced collector may locate
references to particular variations of one coin type. Derek Allen,
who during his lifetime was President of both the Royal and the Brit-
ish Numismatic Societies and a Trustee of the British Museum, was well
capable of producing such a work - indeed, preparation of his Catalogue
of the Celtic Coins in the British Museum is continuing in the Depart-
ment of Coins and Medals - but this is not such a book.
The book is rather a vastly enjoyable amble through the coinage of
the Celts, tracing the beginnings of these coins in imitations of var-
ious coins of the Greek and Roman world. Examples of Celtic coins
from Thrace and Transylvania to Britain are shown, together with al-
most a score of classical comparison pieces. The author has chosen
well to illustrate both the imitative and the innovative powers of
the Celtic moneyers. About 150 coins are illustrated, with all photo-
graphs being of very high quality and enlarged to twice life size.
Each coins is accompanied by a short paragraph of discussion, including
220
both specifications and references, and is identified as to find lo-
cation on one of the three maps included in the text. The book also
includes a brief introduction and a short bibliography.
An Introductions to Celtic Coins is a fine book for anyone with a gen-
eral interest in ancient numismatics who would like to get a pleasing
taste of this often-overlooked area of numismatic history. For those
who are considering Celtic coinage as a specialty into which to expand,
this is a fine book to peruse while deliberating. For serious collect-
ors, it provides a pleasurable overview of the field which may be used
to help place a particularized collector in a larger context or help
explain the collecting interest to interested but uncertain spouses
and friends. It is in presenting Celtic coinage in a broader setting
in the format of an inexpensive yet beautifully illustrated work that
this book finds its real strength.
Reviewed by William Mock
CATALOGUE des MCNNAIES GRECQUE ANTIQUES de l 'ANCIEN E COLLECTION POZZI.
Coins Struck in Europe. S. Boutin. In French, Maastricht , Holland,
1979. 295pp, 202 plates. Paper cover (22 x 85 cms . $85.00.
Originally this was the personal
net de la Bibliotheque Nationale'
Corinth. Bronze of period of
Hadrian. Obv. - Head of
Aphrodite. Rev. - Bellerophon
on Pegasus.
collection of the Keeper of the "Cabi-
. The first section was published in
1921, some 3334 coins. Another 2500
were photographed for plates at that
time, but never published. All of
the coins were from European Greece.
Recently Mr. Boutin came across the
missing 202 plates. His account of
these coins is based entirely on
these plates , no text being avail-
able. This work includes a modified
account of the first 2800 coins.
1500 superb bronzes are illustrated.
The work is helped out by 8 tables.
The Pozzi Collection, since dispersed, was one of the great 19th cen-
tury collections. This ‘book is an essential one for libraries, and
particularly for scholars of the Greek classical coinage; not for the
ordinary collector.
Reviewed by I. C. G. Campbell
Numismatique de l 'Ancienne Afrique (The Coinage of Ancient Africa) , by
L. Muller, C. T. Falbe a J. Chr . Linberg. In French, 3 volumes and
supplement in one voluipe. 8'' x 11", hardback. 176pp, 6 tables; 183pp,
3 tables; and amendation; 90pp index and legends, 3 plates. Illus-
trations (drawn) scattered throughout text. OBOL Reprint 1977. $60.00.
This monumental work was begun in 1843 as a project for the royal
cabinet in Copenhagen , but the work was suspended with the death of
both scholars. Subsequently, Linberg was charged with its completion
and publication in 1860. Thus for this period all the illustrations
221
are drawn and very clear. In the places where there is uneven print-
ing, not up to the standard of usual Obol reprints, it is due to the
poor quality of the original printing. This work is all the more monu-
mental in that the authors included in their studies the 20 largest
cabinets in Europe, from St. Petersburg to Lisbon to London, as well
as a great many private collections. In those sections which are,
in fact, catalogs, at the bottom of each page, in small type, there is
listed for each coin described, its whereabouts. The major cabinets
are listed by name while the general collections have just the numbers ,
i.e. 6 to 20 private collections are given.
The catalog is one of those immensely erudite works, done with Teutonic
thoroughness. Many of the numismatic references found in classical
literature are also quoted in the footnotes, never individualized.
Beside the prefaces, there is a summary - reasonable detailed - of each
area, normally beginning with the establishment of Greek and Roman
colonies in that area, through the period covered by the catalog.
There is also a brief historical account of each city that issued
coins, as an introduction to its coinage. The major essay is on Carth-
age.
For the text, a fairly sound knowledge of French is essential. For
the short description of each coin, Frey's Dictionary of Numismatic
Names will suffice; or the short French word list in the NI BULLETIN
(Apr. 1980, pp 115, 119). On account of the length of the work and
the huge variety of coin types, a French-English dictionary will be
needed for the many names; e.g. "javelot" (javelin), "grenetis" (border
of dots). However, the coin descriptions are brief and to the point.
When one reaches the sections which deal with the Phoenician colonies,
the legends are given with all the known (then) variations found on
the coins. As Punic (Carthaginian) is a Semitic language (Canaanitish) ,
an off shoot of Phoenician, and related to Hebrew, the legend is given
first as it appears on the coin, then its Hebrew-like letters, which
renders it the more intelligible. All known variations also are given.
By giving the actual legend (which many catalogs do NOT do) as it ap-
pears on the particular coin , where there is no illustration, this is
an invaluable aid to identification.
Egypt is excluded in its entirety.
Somehow one does not often seem to see specimens of these classical
coins of North Africa, though they seem to have been reasonably plenti-
ful, judging by the number of the specimens often quoted; even less
does one see literature about them. Thus the reprinting of these
volumes as one, even though in French, is a valuable and useful tool
for dealers, museums and libraries. For those who can manage French,
the histories, with their classical references, are most valuable,
and none too easy to come by.
The following page illustrates a few selected specimens from this
reference in order to give you some idea of the quality and usefullness
of the illustratation which are scattered throughout the tex.
Reviewed by I. C. G. Campbell
222
Selected Illustrations from Nvmismatique de I'Ancienne Afrique:
Silver drachm of Cyrene (port
north of Syrtis). Obv. - Head of
Jupiter-Ammon . Rev. - The sil-
phium plant, for which the area
was noted and appears on most of
its coins. Letters YK short for
KYPANAION .
Mauratani. Large Ae. Obv. -
Bull, legend IMP CAESAR. Rev. -
Lion, legend DIVI.
Mauritania. Ar. Denarius. Obv. -
Head of King Ptolemy, legend REX
PTOLEMAEUS. Rev. - Elephant r.,
legend RA VII (date) .
Carthage. Ar. Tetradrachm. Obv.
Head of Hercules in lion skin.
Note the resemblance to the head
on coins of Alexander the Great .
He claimed descent from Herucles.
Rev. - Head of horse left, a com-
mon symbol on coins of Carthage.
Palm tree behind, legend below
head (Punic).
Ae coin of HIPPO DIARRHYTUS, a
port on the north coast of Africa.
Obv. - Head of Astarte. Rev. -
Goddess of Hippo. (Thuro-
Chusartis) modius on head. She
holds a caduceus and two ears of
wheat (a common symbol on many
North African coin) .
Ae of SCATO, Cyrenaica. Obv. -
heads of Augustus and Agrippa,
facing. Legend CAESAR TR POT
AGRI (PP) A . Rev. - SCATO PROCUS
within laurel wreath. (Publius)
VETTIUS SCATO was an Italian
General who defeated the two Roman
Proconsuls in 90 B.C.
**********************************************************************
THE EXCHEQUER: The British Treasury Department, which is called The
Exchequer, gained the name which means chessboard when accounts were
figured and money counted on a checkered table.
223
MEMBER NOTICE PAGE
Richard L. Stearns, 23 Richards Ave . , Stamford, CT 06905: WANTED -
All varieties of Muscat and Oman Y3. I want to make a reference
manual on the series. I have 38 die varieties in my own collection
at present. What do you have and what are the prices?
Bill Shumski, Box 13922, Denver, CO 82018: WANTED - Ryukyus-Schjoth
/f52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57. Particularly need #52 and 53 and choice
specimens of #57. Also need crisp UNC examples of all ,!B" series Yen.
Buy or trade. WANTED - Macao Y8 100 Patacas & Y9 500 Patacas - this
is the variety with logo. Also interested in correspondence from
anyone with information as to whether or not this variety even exists.
Will answer all replies and will refund your postage. WANTED - Infor-
mation regarding Straits Settlements $1 of 1925 and 1926. Krause
lists both proofs and proof restrikes for those years- Pridmore ap-
pears to indicate that $1 were struck in those years b«it were dated
1920. All replies will be answered and your postage refunded.
NI SYMBOLS, P. 0. Box 30013, Dallas, TX 75230t A search has been
undertaken to find a symbolic design for NI to use on medallic awards,
ribbons, etc. The Board of Governors urge participation by all mem-
bers by submitting recommendations in the form of sketches, photos,
or explanation of an idea. Recommendations should be received by
September 1, 1980. Due recognition will be accorded the member sub-
mitting the symbolic design selected by the NI Board of Governors.
Ingeborg Hoffman, P. O. Box CC, Hillsboro, N-H. 03244: WANTED -
Serbia Y5 1875 EF-UNC, Y5a 1879 EF-UNC, Ylb 1868 Cu variante, Y2a
1868 Cu variante, Y2b 1868 Cu; South Africa Y68 Gold 1/2 Pound UNC,
Y69 Gold 1 Pound UNC, Y12a 1928-1931 VF & Btr., Y18 1925-1930 VF &
Btr., Y23 1931-1936 VF & Btr., Y45 1948-1950 VF & Btr., Y47 1948-1950
VF & Btr.; Spain YB75 1876 EF-UNC, YB76 1881-1885 EF-UNC, YA55 1868
EF-UNC, YA58 1869-1873 EF-UNC, Y80 1889-1891 EF-UNC, Y84 1893-1894
EF-UNC, Y94 1903-1905 EF-UNC, Y118 1957 BA EF, Y119 1957 BA EF, Y120
1957 BA EF; Hungary Y15 1890-1902 EF-UNC; Germany Jager 354 1 Mark
Ni. 1939B (rare), Jager 627 50 Groszy 1938 Ni. for Poland (rare).
Serge Huard, C.P. 402, Pointe-aux-trembles , Quebec, Canada, H1B 5K3:
WANTED: Pieforts issued by France and its former colonies; Belize
gold coins in Matte Uncirculated, Brilliant Uncirculated & Proof; Cook
Islands, 1974, $100 Uncirculated and Proof gold coins; Jamaica, 1978
& 1979, $25 (silver), $100 (gold) and $250 (gold) Proof coins; Rhodesia
1966 gold coins (I am also interested by all the other Rhodesian Un-
circulated & Proof coins and by the Rhodesian banknotes; Hutt River
Province Proof coinage. Please send me a list of what you have and
let me know the price you are asking. All letters answered.
NI, Dallas, Texas: WANTED - new members for NI. We will be glad to
help any member needing recruiting materials to sign up new members.
Per unit costs of about everything we purchase decreases in quantity
so you can see that the more members we can get in the organization,
the less expense per member we will have. We will be happy to mail
a sample issue of the NI BULLETIN along with a membership application
to anyone that you can furnish names and addresses.
224
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